The Student Senate meeting began at 6:06 p.m. on Monday.

Riley McGrath, director and psychologist for Counseling Services, gave a presentation overviewing mental health services and an update on the program.

According to McGrath, Counseling Services offers group therapy, individual therapy, couples counseling, assessments, crisis drop-in hours, case management, outreach and the most recent additions, Mantra Health, YOU at College and Cognito.

McGrath said these new services will decrease the wait time for an intake session or between therapy sessions for students.

Mantra Health is an online telecounseling and telepsychiatry service funded through the UW System, McGrath said. This is the first year of a three-year contract, but UW-Eau Claire can explore continuing to use the service if the UW System decides not to renew the contract.

YOU at College is an online tool aimed at promoting well-being and success for students, faculty and staff in higher education, born out of a partnership between Grit Digital Health and Colorado State University, according to YOU at College.

“This partnership pioneered a thorough human-centered design process, inclusive of students and campus administrators in higher education, leading to the creation of the YOU platform to provide personalized and comprehensive upstream care to every student from enrollment to graduation,” the YOU at College website says.

McGrath said Kognito is a virtual training service to teach students how to communicate with each other about mental health.

President Rossellin Gaitán said they are currently working on a first-generation student handbook with Equity in Student Matters commission Student Director Rosa Gómez, and a project to ease food insecurity with Intergovernmental Affairs commission Director Hannah Kelly.

Gaitán said the University Student Excellence Awards applications are open Monday, Feb. 13 through Friday, March 17 and encouraged students to apply and nominate other students.

Academic Affairs commission Director Sahana Suresh said she will be introducing legislation at the next meeting for Blugold Differential Commitment Tuition (BDCT).

Suresh said the Business Association for Multicultural Students (BAMS) will be celebrating Holi from 4:45 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5 in the Multicultural Student Services Resource Center with catered Indian food and educational programming.

Student Office of Sustainability commission Senate Director Sydney McGuine said the commission passed legislation to fund free sustainable menstrual products for students and to fund harvesting the produce from the hydroponic units in The Hub.

Student Organization commission Director Bradford Heap said he and McGuine are working on sustainability legislation and working through the possible logistical issues with the senate going paperless.

University Activities commission Director Zach Jacobson said hypnotist Chris Jones will be returning to perform at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 9 in Schofield Hall.

Jacobson also said “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” will be playing at 7 p.m. on March 10-12 in the Woodland Theater.

Vice President Brett Farmer said the Menard Center for Constitutional Studies (MCCS) will host Megan Phelps-Roper, a deradicalized former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, to talk about the importance of civil discourse at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7 in Centennial Hall room 1614.

The senate adjourned at 7:06 p.m. and will reconvene at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 13 in the Dakota Ballroom.

Kasper can be reached at [email protected].